Book Reviews

  • Book Catalogue Card #35: Divine Rivals

    Book Catalogue Card #35: Divine Rivals

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) ‘Divine Rivals’ made my heart warm with love letters, and I love a well-executed letter-based romance. It has a good side plot that served even better as an extremely well backdrop for the characters. I’d recommend this to readers who like war-based YA that has a little… Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #34: Arrival of the Moon Hare

    Book Catalogue Card #34:  Arrival of the Moon Hare

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) If, like me, you’ve had a phase around the 2010’s gothic horror anime scene watching shows like ‘Another’ and ‘Angels of Death’ and watched multiple gameplays of ‘Misao,’ ‘Mad Father,’ ‘Ib,’ and ‘The Witch’s House,’ (or played them yourself if you’re braver than I’ll ever be), then… Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #33: How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow

    Book Catalogue Card #33:  How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) ‘How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow’ gave me a teenage fantasy action movie vibe reminiscent of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (the movie) and ‘Sky High.’ Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #32: Digging for Destiny

    Book Catalogue Card #32:  Digging for Destiny

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 out of 5 stars) IT. KEEPS. GETTING. BETTER. Everything I craved for after finishing the first book, Digging for Heaven, were given to me in this installment. Adventure? Character depth? Political intrigue? Yes to all and more! Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #31: Libitina

    Book Catalogue Card #31: Libitina

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) ‘Libitina’ has a really interesting hook, but it felt both fast-paced and slow-paced at the same time due to the lack of atmosphere building between significant events. While that is unfortunate, at least I can say that a lot of things do happen – enough to keep… Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #30: Europea Halls

    Book Catalogue Card #30: Europea Halls

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) A slasher novel reminiscent of the movie ‘Scream’ and the book ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ that leaves a lot of room for depth. There’s a lot of potential for this series. Individually, the elements are theoretically a banger on its own – the diverse… Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #29: More Light

    Book Catalogue Card #29: More Light

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) While fiction gives me so many emotional highs and lows that makes my heart sing, nonfiction books like ‘More Light’ touch my heart in just a tad more vulnerable way because it encourages philosophical discussions out here in the real world using examples of real people. I… Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #28: Sick Bastards

    Book Catalogue Card #28: Sick Bastards

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5 out of 5 stars) I think I’m gonna throw up now. Or read the sequel to throw up even more? What is sanity? The book promised to shock, disgust, and offended… and it DELIVERED! Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #27: The Rot of Karma

    Book Catalogue Card #27:  The Rot of Karma

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) Not as scary nor as fleshed out as I hoped but still written well. Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #26: The Teacher

    Book Catalogue Card #26: The Teacher

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5 stars) Another great hit from my queen of psychological thriller! I read her latest work ‘The Teacher’ and was once again blown away by how much McFadden pulls me in her stories. Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #25: The House on Hanging Hill Lane

    Book Catalogue Card #25:  The House on Hanging Hill Lane

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (1.5 out of 5 stars) The cover is great, the prologue and epilogues are chilly, but everything else is disappointing. The narration style wasn’t able to develop any character, deliver a scene effectively, and deliver a satisfying plot progression. I will just reiterate that the writing style is so discomfiting. Continue reading

  • Book Catalogue Card #24: Babel

    Book Catalogue Card #24: Babel

    Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 out of 5 stars) To me, Babel is a masterpiece . I’d like to think that I don’t say that very lightly. To be able to combine so many intellectually stimulating conversations and make the power of words as the heart of a fictional world’s magic and execute it flawlessly is… Continue reading